Rudolph and Santa stop motion puppets *PICTURE HEAVY*

[Thieveskingali]

I actually saw a video on youtube about this. and it actually contests that those are the actual puppets used in the stop motion but promo copies. and the evidence is quite compelling.

The details about what happened to them and subsequent contesting on whether these were the screen used ones starts around 15:40-15:50 into the video.

In fact the video mentions this forum and a specific post from 2020! Rankin-Bass Rudolph puppets - re-creations?

 

[Treadwell]

Do you mean "aren't" the actual, rather than "are"? Because the sentence is contradicts itself otherwise.

 

[Thieveskingali]

Do you mean "aren't" the actual, rather than "are"? Because the sentence is contradicts itself otherwise.

'Aren't' sorry, was typing it late at night.

 

[blewis17]

So, some take-aways here:

1) The Japanese exhibit showcases ANOTHER Santa puppet (not refurbished), which appears to be screen used.

2) The Japanese exhibit showcases ANOTHER reindeer puppet, identified as "Adult Rudolph" in the video. But this cannot be, as the Japanese exhibit adult reindeer has the standard black nose, not the red shiny light. So it must be one of the other reindeer from the special (Donner, Blitzen, etc)

3) The refurbished young Rudolph on display in Atlanta appears to have some screen-matched BRIEF time in the original holiday special, but apparanetly was not the "main" young Rudolph puppet. But still, screen used (think the ESB Vader saber used as a belt hanger in ROTJ, and then the Barbicon Frankenstein-ed dueling stunt saber from ANH, ESB and ROTJ that tours as Vader's ROTJ saber. Both sabers were screen used in ROTJ, but which would you call "Vader's saber" ? )

4) The refurbished "Atlanta Santa" looks slightly different than the onscreen Santa, and more closley matches up with touring puppets sent to the U.S. for photos/ advertisements. So far, there is no direct evidence that it is screen used.

5) The fact that these exist at all is amazing, and whether screen-used or not, does not diminish their historical import and nostalgia. They were made by the same Japanese team at the same time and were heavily used in advertisements.

 

[Thieveskingali]

Yeah based on the video I linked, it seems there is a strong chance a lot of the puppets are in the estate of the original creator? Which is fantastic. I do hope the other Props get documented and preserved.

 

[Pumpernickel]

Enjoyed your video review of Sam the Snowman, Rusty85. Keep 'em coming!!

Pumpernickel